Effective Classroom Practice:Expectations and Rules

MO SW-PBS

Center for PBSCollege of EducationUniversity of Missouri

~80% of Students

Tier 1 = Primary Prevention:

School-/Classroom-Wide Systems for All Students,

Staff, & Settings

Tier 2 = Secondary Prevention:

Specialized GroupSystems for Students

with At-Risk Behavior

Tier 3 = Tertiary Prevention:

Specialized IndividualizedSystems for Students with High-

Risk Behavior~15%

~5%

CONTINUUM OF SCHOOL-WIDE INSTRUCTIONAL &

POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT

Goal: Reduce new cases of problem behavior and/or academic failure

Goal: Reduce current cases of problem behavior and/or academic failure

Goal: Reduce intensity and severity of chronic problem behavior and/or academic failure

SYST

EMS

PRACTICES

DATASupportingStaff Behavior

SupportingDecisionMaking

SupportingStudent Behavior

SW PositiveBehaviorSupport OUTCOMES

Social Competence &Academic Achievement

Effective Classroom Practices

Classroom:

• Expectations & Rules

• Procedures & Routines

• Continuum of Strategies to Acknowledge Appropriate Behavior

• Continuum of Strategies to Respond to Inappropriate Behavior

• Active Supervision

• Multiple Opportunities to Respond

• Activity Sequence & Offering Choice

• Academic Success & Task Difficulty

Newcomer, 2008

Newcomer, 2008

Classroom Expectations & Rules

Identify, Teach, Practice, Reinforce

Why Focus on Classroom Rules?

• A dependable system of rules and procedures provides structure for students and helps them be engaged with instructional tasks (Brophy, 1998)

• Teaching rules and routines to students at the beginning of the year and enforcing them consistently across time increases student academic achievement and task engagement (Evertson & Emer, 1982; Johnson, Stoner & Green, 1996)

• Clearly stating expectations and consistently supporting them lends credibility to a teacher’s authority (Good & Brophy, 2000)

What are Expectations and Rules?

• Expectations are outcomes• Rules are the specific criteria for meeting

expectation outcomes• Rules identify and define concepts of

acceptable behavior• Use of expectations and rules provides a

guideline for students to monitor their own behavior and they remind and motivate students to meet certain standards

Discuss: Importance of expectations & rules?

• 2-Minute Frenzy –

– How has clarifying schoolwide/non-classroom setting rules impacted student behavior?

– Why do you think it is important to clarify classroom rules?

Guidelines for Writing Classroom Rules

Consistent with schoolwide expectations/rules

1. Observable

2. Measureable

3. Positively stated

4. Understandable

5. Always applicable – Something the teacher will consistently enforce

Other Considerations…

• Students play a role in formulating rules

• Rules displayed prominently; easily seen

• Teacher models and reinforces consistently

• Rules that are easily monitored

Expectations and RulesExample…

• Expectation is: Students will be Safe

– Rules are…

• Keep hands and feet to self

• Use materials correctly

Which of These Follow the Guidelines?

• Keep hands and feet to yourself

• Turn in completed assignment

• Respect others

• Walk in the hallways

• Don’t run

Which of These Follow the Guidelines?

• Think before responding

• Come to class on time, prepared with all supplies and assignments

• Be responsible

• Be ready to learn

• Sit in your seat unless you have permission to leave it

Classroom Rule Writing Activity 1

• List problem behaviors in your classroom

• List replacement behavior (what we want kids to do instead)

• List schoolwide expectations

• Categorize rules within schoolwide expectations

*Post, teach and acknowledge

student compliance of rules

Handout 1 & 2

Activity 2Classroom Rules Survey

• Write expectations from the SW matrix.

• List classroom rules for each expectation.

• Check if rules meet 5 criteria.– Observable, Measurable, Positive, Understandable,

Always Applicable

• Use survey questions to consider how expectations and rules are used throughout the building.

Handout 3

Schedule for Teaching Classroom Rules

• First Grading Period– Teach rules for all areas of school, including

individual classrooms, during first week of school

– After first week, review rules 2 or 3 times / week

Schedule for Teaching Rules

• Through Second Grading Period– Review rules once per week

• Remainder of the Year– Review rules periodically as needed

References• Brophy, J. (1998). Motivating Students to Learn. Boston: McGraw Hill.

• Evertson, C., & Emmer, E. (1982). Preventive classroom management. In D. Duke (Ed.), Helping teachers manage classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

• Evertson, C. M., Emmer, E. T. & Worsham, M.E. (2003). Classroom Management for Elementary Teachers. Boston: Pearson Education.

• Freiberg, J., Stein, T., & Huan, S. (1995). Effects of a classroom management intervention on student achievement in inner-city elementary schools. Educational Research and Evaluation, 1, 36-66.

• Good, T. & Brophy, J. (2000). Look Into Classrooms. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

• IRIS Center, Research to Practice Instructional Strategies. Nashville: Vanderbilt University.

• Johnson, T.C., Stoner, G. & Green, S.K. (1996). Demonstrating the experimenting society model with classwide behavior management interventions. School Psychology Review, 25(2), 199-214.

• Kern, L., Clemens, N.H. (2007). Antecedent strategies to promote appropriate classroom behavior. Psychology in the Schools, 44(1), 65-75.

• Newcomer, L. (2007, 2008). Positive Behavior Support in the Classroom. Unpublished presentation.

• Shores, R., Gunter, P., & Jack, S. (1993). Classroom management strategies: Are they setting events for coercion? Behavioral Disorders, 18, 92-102.

• Simonsen, B., Fairbanks, S., Briesch, A., Myers, D. & Sugai, G. (2008). Evidence-based practices in classroom management: Considerations for Research to practice. Education and Treatment of Children, 31(3), pp. 351-380.